[LINK] We?re all copyright criminals now

[Adam Todd]

At 10:52 AM 22/11/2006, Stewart Fist wrote:
> > if you record or film a busker in a public place  ... etc and et al
>
>All of this legalistic argument illustrates why we have courts, judges and
>juries, rather than just police and politicians.


Noooo!  No Juries!  Juries only for Defamation cases.  Not Copyright or 
other torts!

We don't have a Tort for Privacy in Australia.  (Anyone want to back me in 
getting one?  Otherwise forget it, I have more important things in the case 
to deal with.)

Even getting a Jury for a Criminal Offence is hard these days, unless you 
are charged with Murder.

Read on a school hand out in Court 13 of the Supreme Court today:

Parliament Makes the Laws - Courts Interpret the laws.


But this is wrong!  Courts "uphold" the laws.  They aren't really given the 
opportunity to interpret laws.  Unless you raise a question of interpretation.

>We have added this buffer of humanity and human judgement, precisely so that
>black-letter law isn't just applied indiscriminately and in ridiculous ways,
>or in ridiculous situations.

Stewart, you aren't spending enough time in the court room!

The Black-Letter-Law is applied by Registrars, Judges and Judicial officers 
without regard for interpretation.  IN fact they more than often say:

"I have no power to make the orders you seek as the law is clear."

See Todd V Australia Post - Gzell J in October this year.

A law was applied that had nothing to do and made no sense to it's 
application.  In short:

I have a PO BOX of ten years at Roseville (just up the road from you!)

I have redirected ALL the mail to that PO BOX since mid 2003.

This year the Roseville Post Office decided it won't redirect mail unless 
it exclusively and only carries my name "ADAM TODD".  Any other words and 
it's not redirected.

This is because my father told Allan Khosh (Roseville PO Manager) that the 
PO box was his and not mine, so Khosh stopped redirecting the mail.

Now I argued that as I have the only keys to the PO BOX, it's pretty silly 
that I have to travel across town, or soon across the State, to collect my 
mail.  The only part I can control of the address it the PO BOX number and 
Suburb.  I can't control whether people put my name or other words on the 
letter.

So how do I get my mail?

Well Aus Post argued that mail addressed to someone else may be delivered 
to my PO BOX and in redirecting it they would be guilty of a criminal offence.

So for example, mail to my wife, or my wife and me, or my children, or my 
wife and a child or ... are all unable to be redirected, because they are 
not me.  Even though for three years, everything has been redirected and 
maybe in 10 years there have been two letters NOT addressed to any name 
known to us.

So now it's all before the Supreme Court.

I don't get my mail, I can't afford to drive to Roseville twice a week to 
collect it, and I get about 1 in 20 letters sent by redirection.

It's going to be worse when I'm over seas for a month or two, or in QLD or 
Victoria.

I guess the reality is that you aren't entitled to your own mail because it 
may not be for you.

Now that letter from the Supreme Court addressed only to:

PO BOX 174
ROSEVILLE NSW 2069

Is it for me, or Justice Gzell.  I don't want to open it because I don't 
want to go to jail.

Guess it will have to wait till next years hearing :)  Hope it's not important!

>The court system adds a layer of common-sense (not always apparent) between
>the law-makers/imposers and the public interest.

Rarely apparent.  Read Todd V Todd 31 August 2006.  Here's a quick 
link:  billtodd.inoz.com

Apparently the Barr J found I was in the Federal Court facing heavy 
penalties.  Yet in a failure of duty, he didn't check with the Federal 
Court to see whether that information, which was not part of any evidence 
or any affidavit tendered that I'm aware of, came from.

The Federal Court of course have no files on me for the last 25 years.